Chapter 218

After Savannah reported to the police, I had her check the surveillance footage.

It was already late at night. When we got back to the living room, Kelly was on the couch, looking really worried. She was just as concerned about Briar as I was.

"Did you find her?" she asked, her voice trembling.

I shook my head. "No, but we found one of Briar's hair clips in the backyard. So, she was there at some point."

Kelly's face tightened with worry. "What? We need to call the police right now."

"Briar wouldn't just disappear for no reason," I said, trying to stay calm.

I nodded. "Don't worry, we've already called them."

Savannah pulled out her laptop, and we got ready to watch the surveillance footage together to figure out what happened.

Leo walked over and asked, "Where's this footage from? Can it show Briar?"

Savannah nodded. "Yeah, it should."

"There's a surveillance room across the street that monitors the whole block. It should have footage of the backyard."

Savannah quickly pulled up the footage from tonight, and we anxiously watched the dark screen.

Around 10 PM, Briar indeed ran out alone. She looked around the yard and then headed to the backyard, closing the door behind her as if she didn't want to be seen.

But no matter how we adjusted the angles, there was no footage of the backyard after that.

Since the area had been abandoned for a while, we hadn't installed any cameras there.

I contacted Simon and asked him to make sure the local police cooperated with our efforts.

With Briar missing, I was extremely worried about her safety.

Simon quickly agreed and got the local police to coordinate with us.

We stayed up in the living room until dawn. Holly came in and was surprised to see us all there.

"Why are you all up so early?" she asked, looking confused.

I shook my head. "Briar ran out last night, and we haven't found her yet."

Leo's face showed even more distress. He clutched his hair and muttered, "It's all my fault, all my fault."

Holly, who had grown fond of Briar over the past few days, also became anxious.

"Did you call the police?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we did. Holly, could you make some breakfast? We probably won't be able to sleep today and will need to go to the police station later."

She nodded and hurried to the kitchen.

When breakfast was ready, the kids sat at the table.

Brett, with curious eyes, asked, "Where's Briar? Why isn't she here for breakfast?"

I shook my head and said, "Briar went out last night and hasn't come back yet."

His eyes widened. "Why? Why did she go out?"

I glanced at Leo, who was fidgeting at the table, his eyes bloodshot and looking very distressed.

I shook my head. "It's okay, she just went out. She'll be back soon."

Brett was about to ask more questions, but Holly quickly stuffed a sandwich into his mouth. "Brett, eat your breakfast first. We'll talk about it later."

She wanted to prevent him from saying anything that might upset Leo.

Leo stared blankly at the table, not touching his food.

We couldn't help but try to comfort him. "Leo, you need to eat something."

"You need your strength to help find Briar," I urged.

Leo slowly shook his head. "It's all my fault, all my fault. If it weren't for me, she wouldn't be missing. I'm not a good dad. It's all my fault."

He had been repeating this since last night.

We sighed, knowing that with Briar missing, Leo was the one suffering the most.

Kelly also tried to comfort him. "Leo, you need to eat something. Otherwise, you won't have the energy to look for Briar later."

After much persuasion, Leo finally ate a little, just enough to fill his stomach.

The police had come by to check the surveillance footage and started canvassing the area.

All we could do was wait for results.

As time passed, and with Briar missing for 24 hours, the police still had no leads.

Our hearts sank.

Savannah and I took turns sleeping for a few hours, but Leo hadn't closed his eyes for 24 hours.

We tried to get him to rest, but he just shook his head.

I understood the pain of losing a child, so I knew why he couldn't sleep.

Just then, the police contacted us with news.

They had found footage from a dashcam in an alley behind the backyard.

The video showed a small figure running into the opposite alley.

The police sent us the video to confirm if the child was Briar.

Leo nervously watched the video. When it played, the screen showed an empty alley.

Because it was from a car's perspective, the view was limited.

We could only see a small figure running past, but based on the skirt and height, Leo nodded vigorously. "Yes, that's Briar, that's my daughter!"

Seeing his certainty, I nodded and had Savannah inform the police.

I reassured Leo, "Leo, you don't need to worry now. This means Briar wasn't taken; she just hid herself. But Briar is stubborn, so she hasn't come back yet. Don't think the worst."

This seemed to comfort Leo a bit. He nodded slightly and hoarsely said, "Thank you."

However, the alleys beyond were more remote, and the surveillance wasn't great, making it still difficult to find Briar.

Leo didn't know, but Savannah and I were aware that three strangers had moved into the area.

So, there was still a possibility that Briar had been taken, but we didn't dare say this in front of Leo, fearing it would crush his newfound hope.

In the video, Briar moved quickly. If not for that car, the cameras might not have caught her at all.

Her movements seemed to deliberately avoid the camera angles.

But how could a child know where the cameras were?

Savannah and I exchanged worried glances.

Then Savannah suddenly said, "Maybe Briar really did hide on purpose. Brett plays with her all the time. We should ask him where they usually hide. He might have a clue."

I nodded. Although we knew there were strangers around, we couldn't rule out the possibility that Briar had wandered off on her own.

"Alright, let's find Brett and have him show us where he and Briar usually play. Maybe we can find her."